Deep Politics Forum

Quote:Fiona Woolf faces new questions from MPs over links with Lord Brittan

MPs not totally satisfied' with answers given by head of inquiry into abuse as details of new contact emerge

• Matthew Weaver
  
• The Guardian, Wednesday 22 October 2014 15.16 BST
  

Fiona Woolf is under pressure to step down as the head off the government inquiry into historical child abuse. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Fiona Woolf, the second person appointed to lead the government's inquiry into child abuse, is to be asked by a committee of MPs to clarify discrepancies over her account of meetings with the wife of Lord Brittan, who was home secretary when a dossier about alleged Westminster paedophiles went missing from his department.
Keith Vaz, the chairman of the home affairs select committee, said the committee was "not totally satisfied" with Woolf's answers to the committee after previously undisclosed details of her meetings with Lady Brittan emerged less than a day after her appearance before the MPs.
The committee's move added to mounting legal and parliamentary pressure on Woolf to resign as chair of the inquiry.
Woolf, a QC and the lord mayor of London, replaced the government's initial choice, Lady Butler-Sloss, who resigned soon after the inquiry was set up when it emerged that her late brother, Lord Havers, had been attorney general during the period when some of the incidents are alleged to have taken place.
A second conflict-of-interest row is growing as lawyers representing victims of the abuse insist that Woolf should resign after it emerged that Brittan was a neighbour with whom she had dined five times since 2008.
In a letter to the home secretary, released on Tuesday, Woolf admitted she knew Lord Brittan and his wife, and that she had met Lady Brittan for coffee on a "small number of occasions". The last such meeting was in April 2013, it said. She also admitted that the two women were on a judging panel for the Dragons awards for corporate involvement in the community in 2014, making no reference to the same awards the year before. In her letter to the home secretary, Woolf said: "I have had no social contact with Lady Brittan since 23 April 2013 and have not spoken to either of them in person or by telephone since."
Photographs have emerged of Woolf at recent social functions.
One shows the two women in conversation with the former newsreader Martyn Lewis in October 2013 at the Dragons award ceremony.


Another shows Woolf standing close to Lady Brittan at a mayoral event.


Vaz said he was surprised that details of further meetings had emerged. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's World at One programme, he said: "I am surprised that there is new information about the list of meetings that Fiona Woolf has had simply because she was very clear to the committee yesterday ... this was a long letter that had been carefully gone through ... She said she had checked this in a draft with the Home Office."
He added: "I will write to her to ask her why this particular piece of information was missing and is there anything else she can help the committee, and therefore the public, in respect of other issues."
Vaz said the committee wanted to raise three other issues with Woolf, including whether she had time to chair the inquiry after its launch was delayed to fit in with her busy schedule.
He said: "We were not totally satisfied [with her evidence] that's why we are writing to her.
"We are writing to her about how much time she has to do this very important job. The committee wants to hear from her, rather than others, about her suitability … If she feels that she doesn't have the confidence of the victims and others, then I'm sure she will make her decision in her own way."
Woolf also faces a legal challenge over her appointment and a parliamentary motion calling for her replacement. Labour's energy spokeswoman, Caroline Flint, told BBC's Daily Politics programme: "I think it's really difficult for her to stay." But No 10 insisted the prime minister had "full confidence" in Woolf.
Andi Lavery, a victim of abuse at a Catholic boarding school, said Woolf personified the establishment as lord mayor. Speaking to the Guardian, he said: "I'm angry and appalled it's a cover-up."
He said he had seen a copy of a judicial review challenging Woolf's appointment. "There's a legal challenge from Ian McFadyen [who was abused at Caldicott prep school] and an unnamed lady. She [Woolf] is not fit and proper under the Inquiries Act," Lavery said.
Alison Millar, partner at the solicitors Leigh Day, which represents a number of victims, said her clients regarded Woolf's links to Brittan as "beyond the pale".
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Wednesday, Millar said: "She has to be seen to be independent, and somebody who seems to be on dinner-party terms with a senior political figure whose knowledge this inquiry will be scrutinising is somebody who, from the perspective of my clients, does not have the necessary independence."
Asked to state the single reason why Woolf lacked credibility to chair the inquiry, Milllar said: "This evidence of dinner parties with Lord Brittan puts her beyond the pale, in terms of her credibility with my clients."
On Tuesday, Woolf told the committee that she had "no close association" with the Tory peer and she believed her account of contact with him would "lay to rest" any fears.
Woolf appeared unwilling to say Lord and Lady Brittan were not friends, and could not remember whether she sent them a Christmas card. "My Christmas card list last year had about 3,000 people on it. To be honest I don't know whether they were on it or not," she said.
She added that Brittan's phone number was not stored in her mobile phone.
However, victims of abuse have continued to questioned Woolf's credibility. Phil Frampton, a former Barnardo's boy who campaigns for those who have been abused, said he was appalled by Woolf's appointment. "It's like putting Wayne Rooney in charge of an investigation of the nuclear energy industry," he told the BBC.
The early day motion tabled by Lib Dem MP John Leech, and supported so far by three other MPs, calls on government "to find a new chair of the inquiry who has palpably demonstrated its willingness to challenge all quarters of the establishment to ensure that it can achieve its aims of providing justice to the victims of historic child abuse".
The deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, said he had no evidence that Woolf had not been thoroughly vetted, but appeared to stop short of offering full support. Answering questions after delivering a speech in south London, the Liberal Democrat leader said: "We all need to have confidence that the decisions taken by the home secretary … were thorough. I have not heard anything that suggests to me the process by which Theresa May made the recommendation is anything other than thorough."
Woolf's role was given only qualified backing by Sharon Evans, a journalist, campaigner and victim of child abuse, who is on the inquiry's panel of experts.
She said she understood the anger of victims but was "confident" the panel would properly investigate the allegations.
"There has been so much focus on Fiona Woolf, which I understand, but she is just the head of the panel. There are nine people with an enormous background and expertise in this field," Evans told Today.
"The whole panel are aware that we have got off to a very difficult start, but … we are satisfied that Fiona Woolf has the skills of a solicitor … We do need balance … I would like people to be reassured that there are victims on this panel."
Evans added: "We are determined to get to the bottom of this … I will give you my pledge as a journalist and victim that I will not let anybody get away with things that I think are being covered up."
The role of Brittan is key to the inquiry because it will investigate what happened to a dossier handed to him by the late MP Geoffrey Dickens, which later went missing. Last year, Brittan said he could not remember getting the dossier, but after further questions were put to him in July, he released a statement saying he could now recollect a meeting with Dickens. He said he had asked officials to look into the claims but could not remember hearing any more about it.
However, a Home Office review from last year found Brittan had written to Dickens in 1984 saying the material had been assessed by the director of public prosecutions as worth pursuing and "passed to the appropriate authorities". Brittan released a second statement saying he had only just been made aware of last summer's review, which proved that appropriate action had been taken.
Downing Street has backed Woolf, saying it was confident she would ensure there was "no stone left unturned" as head of the inquiry.

Quote:BY NEEDLETEAM | OCTOBER 23, 2014 · 10:07 PM

How to become Lord Mayor of the City of London

We thought it would be useful to provide a simple guide for ordinary citizens on how to become Lord Mayor of the City of London.
Step 1 Become a resident within the City of London (The Square Mile).
According to the 2011 Census, there were 4,400 households in the City of London with 7400 residents. If the multi-million property prices are off-putting, you could always apply for a council house within the Square Mile.
Step 2 Register on the City of London Electoral Roll,
and wait 12 months (Then go to Step 3)
Or, alternatively; Skip Steps 1 & 2, and instead become a member of one of the City Livery Companies,
Join The Worshipful Society of Whatevers of London' (For your convenience a list is here). Application for membership of livery companies is purely a domestic matter for each individual company. Some only accept trade or trade-associated members, others embrace a wider membership. It is not uncommon for a person to be a member of more than one livery company, but the first one joined, or the company through which the freedom of the City was obtained, is the mother' company.
This is the example of the The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London'

"You must be recommended for membership by two Liverymen.
There will be a period of Apprenticeship (as a Yeoman) during which time you may apply to gain your Freedom. After your apprenticeship you may be considered for promotion to the Livery (after paying the Livery fine). Liverymen are expected to contribute financially to the Societies Charitable work."

Step 3 Apply for the Freedom of the City of London.
This will be granted automatically if you have been on the City of London Electoral Roll for over 12 months or, if you are a member of one of the Liveries, you can apply through them.

There are several ways to apply for the Freedom: by servitude (for apprentices who have served a full apprenticeship to a Freeman), by patrimony (for children of Freemen provided one parent was a Freeman prior to the applicant's birth), by nomination or by presentation via a Livery Company.
New members of the City Livery Companies are generally encouraged by the Company to apply for the Freedom. The process of becoming a Freeman through a Livery Company is explained in full by the Clerk of the Company.
Finally, persons who have been on the City of London Electoral Roll for a minimum of one year may obtain the Freedom without the need for an application visit or Common Council approval. There is no fee in such cases and applicants should advise that they are on the Ward List.

Step 4 Stand as Alderman
These are elected by the registered voters in your Ward. Although this does have a bit of a twist to it, because although in 2013 there were 6,804 resident voters, the companies who reside in the Square Mile are also permitted to appoint voters, and these outnumber the residents by more than 2 to 1.
In order to stand as Alderman, you will be required to be a Freeman (see steps above). You will also need to be considered suitable by the Lord Chancellors Advisory Committee for an appointment as Justice of the Peace on the City Bench, and show a record of high professional achievement.
You should also be prepared to participate, as part of the preparation for higher office, in a system of regular appraisal by the Court of Aldermen
Finally this document also mentions that; There are financial implications to carrying out the Office of Alderman and preparing for higher office', but provides no other details (although if you have to ask, you know you probably can't afford it).
So, now you are an Alderman in the City of London, which form the Court of Aldermen, which in turn are part of the City of London Corporation.
The Court of Aldermen is made up of the twenty five Aldermen of the City of London, presided over by the Lord Mayor (who is one of the Aldermen). The Court of Aldermen meets nine times a year in the Aldermen's Court Room at Guildhall. Some of the duties of the Court include approving people for Freedom of the City and approving the formation of new livery companies.
Step 5 Become a Sheriff of the City of London.
If you decided to avoid joining one of the Liveries earlier because you didn't have the right connections then, now is the time to do it.
Sheriffs are only appointed from members of the Liveries, and only two Sheriffs for the City of London are elected by the Liverymen each year.
To stand, you will need to be nominated by 15 Liverymen, have the support of the Court of Aldermen and the Livery.
Once again, there is this reference that might be mildly off-putting;
There are financial implications to carrying out the Office of Sheriff. For example, the Corporation provides a Sheriff's Budget Allowance which meets most of the costs of the Shrieval Year. In addition, a Sheriff is likely to make a further contribution from his/her private resources towards the costs of the Shrieval Year.
The bonus is that you will be able to take advantage of living in the court house complex during your year of service.
Step 6 Become Lord Mayor.
Since you have been both an Alderman and a Sheriff you meet two of the qualifications for the role. You will have to be elected by the Court of Aldermen following your nomination by the Livery at Common Hall, from the list of Aldermen, who have served the Office of Sheriff.
Big bonus though, is that you will now reside at the Mansion House for your year in office (November to November). However, after your term in office, you will have to remain an Alderman for at least another six years. Also, the words about financial implications appear yet again;

There are financial implications to carrying out the Office of Lord Mayor. For example, the City of London Corporation provides a Mayoral Budget Allowance which meets most of the costs of the Mayoral Year. In addition, the Lord Mayor is likely to make a further contribution from his/her private resources towards the costs of the Mayoral Year.

Step 7 Congratulations, you are now an ordinary citizen and also The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of the City of London.
Within the City you have precedence over all individuals except the Sovereign and retain assorted traditional powers, rights and privileges. Even then, the Queen will request your permission to enter the city of London at Temple Bar. How bad is that?
Footnote:
We suspect it helps to have very deep pockets, and being married to a former Arthur Anderson tax partner is probably handy.
Btw, we didn't mention all the dinner parties, gala events, riding in gold coaches, wearing lavish clothes, and networking activities, but you get the idea.
Let us know how you get on.

Magda Hassan Wrote:How terribly feudal!

Hey love that cartoon David ::

Quote:Second member of Fiona Woolf inquiry admits controversial links with Lord Brittan

Dame Moira Gibb, who is to sit with Fiona Woolf on the Government's child sex abuse inquiry, confirms she also has a link with Lord Brittan

Fiona Woolf, the Lord Mayor of London and former president of the Law Society, has insisted she is "not a member of the establishment". Photo: GETTY IMAGES


By David Barrett, Home Affairs Correspondent

9:30PM BST 24 Oct 2014

Fiona Woolf, the controversial head of the Government's child sex abuse inquiry, is under renewed pressure after it emerged another member of her inquiry panel has links with Lord Brittan.

The Telegraph can disclose that Dame Moira Gibb who was appointed to sit on the panel on Tuesday along with a number of other experts has admitted a close personal friend worked with Lord Brittan during part of the period which will be closely scrutinised by the inquiry.

Lord Brittan, who as Leon Brittan who was in charge of the Home Office in the 1980s, issued a statement through his solicitors in July after being questioned by the police over an alleged sexual offence.

Earlier this year he was questioned under caution over an allegation of rape dating back to 1967, which he said was "wholly without foundation".

It has also been claimed that while at the Home Office Lord Brittan was handed a file - now missing - in late 1983 which allegedly detailed child abuse at the highest levels of Westminster.

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In a letter to Theresa May, the Home Secretary, on October 17 Dame Moira said she had no "direct interest in the matters to which the inquiry relates".
But just five days later she was forced to write to Mrs May again.
She wrote: "I would like to set out that Mr Gerald Malone, whom I declared as a personal friend, informed me last night that he was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Lord Brittan in 1985 when Lord Brittan was Secretary of State for Trade and Investment, and a Government whip from 1986-1987.
"I will keep this matter under review during the tenure of my appointment to the inquiry panel."
The first person appointed to head the inquiry, Baroness Butler Sloss, was forced to resign before proceedings had got underway after it emerged her brother, Michael Havers, may have had to make legal decisions about abuse allegations in his role as attorney general in the 1980s.
Mrs Woolf faced calls for her resignation after she revealed she had a number of personal links with Lord Brittan and his wife.

[SUP]Lord Brittan[/SUP]
Mrs Woolf admitted she had lived in the same London road as the Brittans and had attended at five dinner parties with them.
Her personal connections with Lord Brittan have come under intense scrutiny because of the nature of the inquiry into what some commentators have alleged is an "establishment cover up".
Gerald Malone was a Conservative MP in Baroness Thatcher's and Sir John Major's governments.
As a trusted worker for Lord Brittan in the 1980s it is conceivable the sex abuse inquiry may wish to take evidence from him about Lord Brittan's tenure at Home Office.
This could lead to a potential conflict of interest for Dame Moira, a social work expert and former chief executive of Camden borough council in north London.

Quote:Victims threaten to boycott Woolf inquiry into child abuse

Survivors of child abuse say they have no confidence in Lady Woolf as relationship with Lord and Lady Brittan is revealed

• Jamie Doward
  
• The Observer, Saturday 25 October 2014 19.20 BST
  

Lady Woolf in the Lord Mayor of London's office in Mansion House. Photograph: Jonathan Goldberg/REX

Pressure on Lady Woolf to step down as the new head of the government inquiry into child abuse has intensified after a lawyer representing almost 50 victims said a number would not participate because of their concern about how it was going to be run.
The claims, by Alison Millar, a partner at Leigh Day solicitors, came as the leading organisation representing abuse survivors said many feared that it would be "a whitewash" and questioned Woolf's credentials to lead the inquiry.
Woolf has been under scrutiny after it emerged that she had attended a number of social gatherings with Lord and Lady Brittan.
Lord Brittan's role as home secretary in the 1980s is considered by abuse survivors to be crucial to the inquiry. They want to know what happened to a dossier about alleged Westminster paedophiles that went missing from his department. "As Leon Brittan is potentially such an important figure in this investigation, to appoint somebody who has demonstrably had more than a passing connection to the Brittans renders her unsuitable for the post," said Peter Saunders, chief executive of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood.
"We've heard from many survivors who are extremely distressed. They are saying it's going to be a whitewash, that it doesn't want to speak to the victims and that's just a paper exercise. They are worried it's not going to get to the truth of what happened."
Victims are dismayed that Woolf, who is to stand down as Lord Mayor of London next month, will be taking up another demanding job, separate from her role heading up the inquiry.
"Some of my clients question her capability in terms of her diary commitments to do this very complex and lengthy inquiry," Millar said. "She's due to take on a prestigious appointment with the University of Law, which will involve promoting it to international students. We want to know: does she have a lot of international trips booked, is she going to be able to come to the meetings? You cannot do this remotely."
Saunders also questioned Woolf's expertise. "She's a corporate lawyer; she has no experience in investigating serious criminal cases," he said.
Woolf is under pressure to release the draft of her letter sent to the Home Office outlining the social contacts she had with the Brittans. It is unclear whether the letter was then subject to revisions.
Keith Vaz, chair of the home affairs select committee, has asked Woolf to clarify a number of points regarding her appointment by next week.
One law firm has already drawn up plans to seek a judicial review of Woolf's appointment. Millar suggested that that remained a possibility for her clients too. She said many had been upset by Woolf's recent appearance before Vaz's committee.
"One of the things that angered our clients was when Fiona Woolf started talking about the victim community," Millar said. "There is no victim community; they are survivors of child abuse. They do not live in a communal state. They are a disparate range of people whose interests are not homogenous. Quite often they are isolated from other people, including each other, and they're not all talking and saying we want this we want that'. However, all the clients I've spoken with are unanimous that they don't want Fiona Woolf to chair this inquiry because the perception of her is someone too close to the establishment.
"A number of my more vocal clients have said they're not going to participate in the inquiry as it's currently set up," Millar said. "Whether they feel as strongly when the inquiry gets going I don't know. But you've got a pretty sceptical group of people. If you set an inquiry up from day one that looks like it's not going to listen to them, they are going to turn their back on it."